Chow Line: 12 tips for healthful holidays

First, count yourself lucky if you haven't already started inching up on the scale. For a lot of people these days, "the holidays" stretch from Halloween all the way to the Superbowl -- a full 10 weeks of indulging.

A study in a 2000 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine showed that average weight gain over the holidays tends to be less than two pounds, but people who are already overweight are more likely to gain more. And it can be difficult to shed those pounds once they're established. So, it's a good idea to plan ahead and take steps to prevent gaining weight in the first place.

Here are a dozen ideas, for parties and other holiday indulgences:

Don't starve yourself the day of a party. Rather, eat light but regular meals. That will keep your metabolism charged up.

An hour or two before a party, eat a high-fiber snack. It will help you feel full and allow you to make better choices.

When at a party, always use a plate or napkin for appetizers. It helps you quantify what you're eating.

If appetizers have toothpicks, hold onto your used toothpicks. That lets you keep track of how many appetizers you've eaten.

Use a smaller plate, if available, to put your food on. That helps with portion control.

If attending an open house or other event for which you don't have to arrive at a set time, plan to arrive later rather than earlier. After others have picked over the buffet table, the food won't look as tempting.

Attending a potluck? Bring something healthful -- a vegetable or fruit tray with low-fat dip, for example.

After eating, find a place away from the food table to situate yourself, or offer to help with hosting duties to allow you to focus on something other than food.

Drink enough fluid. Sometimes people mistake hunger for thirst. Between meals, have a glass of water before reaching for something to eat.

Avoid your trigger foods. Everyone has something they can't stop eating when they start. It's OK to indulge occasionally, but, most of the time, just stay away.

Get enough rest. Feeling tired can make it easy to overeat.

Baking holiday cookies? Make them smaller -- bite-size. And store them in the freezer or in a container high in a cupboard. Keep a bowl of fruit on the counter and fresh vegetables at eye-level in the refrigerator to make it easy to reach for healthful snacks.

Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH, 43210-1044, or filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu.

Editor: This column was reviewed by Melissa Kalb, registered dietitian with the Faculty and Staff Wellness Program at The Ohio State University. The tips in the column came from a presentation Kalb created to help people get through the holidays healthfully.

Associated Files:
chowholidays.pdf (PDF, 86 Kb)